By Blake Haas
BLOOMINGTON – Holiday travel is on the rise across central Illinois. Still, officials at Central Illinois Regional Airport (CIRA) say to make sure not to forget a face-covering before boarding a flight.
Earlier this week, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) extended federal requirements that travelers wear a face-covering during commercial flights until March 18.
“We are excited that travel is back, but there are still rules in place,” CIRA Deputy Director Fran Strebing told WJBC’s, Scott Miller. “The biggest one is the mask requirement, that has been extended until March. You’re going to need to wear a mask through your whole journey, so as soon as you enter the airport and throughout your air travel experience and whether your connecting, whatever your destination, that is a federal requirement.”
According to Strebing, air travel at CIRA airport is nearing 2019 holiday travel numbers.
“We want to make sure that people are prepared. And allow yourself extra time. This is the holiday season, we are back to busy times, and that means fuller airplanes. We have some large airbuses that come in and out on Frontier and Allegiant that holds 177-180 people. And when everyone is trying to get through at the same time, it can be a problem.
You want to make sure you don’t have any issues; get there early and pack accordingly.”
TSA agents screened just under 21 million travels during the Thanksgiving holiday. The agency expects higher numbers during the December holidays.
Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].
